Popular Mildura harness racing trainer-driver Luke Watson is hoping his knowledge of small tracks will be a good grounding for the coming blockbuster Wayville Showgrounds nostalgia event.
Watson was this week named as one of 10 invited drivers to be part of the "good old days" when harness racing again returns to the former Adelaide headquarters of trotting on Friday, December 13.
"When I was growing up in Broken Hill I did heaps of fast work up there at the Rocky Baker Memorial Oval Paceway which is only 602 metres in circumference," Watson said.
"It was in the late 1980s and I can say it was quite a task. To add to the difficulty, the horses back then were differently gaited to what they are today," he said.
"My dad Ian and older brother Mark would always be grabbing me to help them out when it was hopple-up day.
"So it's going to be interesting at Wayville because that's even smaller than Broken Hill at 510 metres. But I'm humbled to be invited and just can't wait."
Wayville, in the centre of Adelaide, was the headquarters for South Australian racing from 1925 and hosted race meetings up until 1973, four years after the opening of the purpose-built Globe Derby Park. But Wayville stands on its own in harness racing heritage and nostalgia.
Check out Cardigan Bay winning the 1963 Inter Dominion at Wayville Click Here!
Although smaller than most of the capital city tracks in Australia, Wayville hosted the Inter Dominion on six occasions – 1937, '49, '54, '58, '63 and '69 – when crowds of passionate "trots" fans would pack the colosseum-like circuit.
Up to 45,000 people would pack Wayville for the trots in the 1960s (Courtesy Harness Racing SA)
And here is Richmond Lass winning the 1969 Inter Dominion at Wayville Click Here!
Watson said he was recently contacted and asked if he would be interested in driving at the 2019 Wayville meeting, the second "Return to Wayville" meeting.
"It came out of the blue. I told them I was definitely available and then I sort of forgot about it. Then a few days ago when I got another call to say I'd been chosen, I was rapt," he said.
"I've driven in a number of drivers series as well as the State of Origin contest at Mildura. They are all heaps of fun."
Other drivers to get the Wayville call up include Lance Justice, Dani and Wayne Hill, Ken Rogers, Ryan Hryhorec, Jayden Brewin, Jayson Finnis, Jason Lee and Mark Yole.
Raised in Broken Hill, Watson was more into football than the horses, and showed a fair amount of ability, being a country carnival representative as well as pulling on the guernsey a few times for Norwood in underage competition.
He finished school before following his parents Ian and Alison down to Mildura.
"I suppose I'm like a lot of others and horses did end up getting the better of me," he said.
However, Watson said his driving career didn't get off to a flying start aboard Future Bound at an Ouyen meeting for former trainer-farrier Ross Carr.
"I galloped it out and we probably got beaten by a hundred metres," he said.
"My first winner came a bit later. It was a horse trained by my brother Mark called Autumn Night and fittingly it was at Broken Hill."
Since then Watson has stamped himself as a most competent reinsman with four group races to his name as well as other feature event wins.
He was been successful in the Vicbred Series Finals with former great mare Flojos Gold, trained by his father; as well as a couple of South Australian Oaks and two SA Southern Cross finals.
"We took out the Southern Cross events with Alzona, who was as brave as they come," Watson said.
"But probably the one race win that really sticks out in my mind was in the rich Mark Gurry event with Loaded. It was the first good race I'd won as a trainer.
"I remember speaking to owner Peter Argiro, who still races horses with us, about a bit of a race plan beforehand-and it panned out in exactly the way I thought it would. It's awesome when that happens. It still makes my spine tingle actually."
Watson is married to Kathy, a concessional claim driver, and the couple have three children. The husband-and-wife team prepares nine horses at their Merbein South property, 15 minutes from Mildura.
The Wayville meeting will also provide a platform for raising mental health awareness in the community, with HRSA partnering with organisations providing mental health services.
Similar to 2017, all races will be conducted as standing starts and limited to eight runners.
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura